Starter Road Bike Advice

craigleese

Hi

I'm looking for my first road bike to communte - 12 miles per day. Will probably use @ the odd weekends aswell. Budget is around the £500-550 area.

The following bikes are what i've browsed on the internet & have no idea which one is better...

Trek Bikes 2012 Trek 1.1 C H2
Giant 2012 Giant Defy 5 Triple
Raleigh Airlite 100 2012

Anybody own or know of these bikes ? If anybody has any other suggestions they would be hugely appriciated.

Thanks
Craig

EarlyGo

Hi Craig,

Best advice is get down to your local bike shop and see what they've got. Their advice will hopefully clear things up for you. If not, then personally I'd go for the Trek or the Giant, whichever one fitted better. (I didn't like the Airlite 100 when I saw it.) Another one for you to consider is the Specialized Secteur which is on a Specialized offer everywhere at the moment for 549 quid reduced from 649.

Regards,

EarlyGo

sandyballs

I've had a Giant Defy as a starter bike and it was fantastic, though I would recommend you push for the higher spec with the carbon fork, i really think it makes a difference. With sales and a bit of haggling you should be able to find a defy 3 maybe 2011 but it will be worth it.

Clearly you should climb aboard a few before making your decision, and most importantly, check you get the right size. There's a Defy size xl in the classifieds that has about an inch of seatpost showing and on a compact frame that is awful.

Have fun shopping.

alidaf

Sandyballs wrote:

I've had a Giant Defy as a starter bike and it was fantastic, though I would recommend you push for the higher spec with the carbon fork, i really think it makes a difference. With sales and a bit of haggling you should be able to find a defy 3 maybe 2011 but it will be worth it.

+1 for this advice. I have a Defy 2 from 2011. It has been great apart from the Sora groupset. This years version has mostly Tiagra, which is a lot better, but so does the 2010 version, which may still be available for a bargain in some stores. I didn't think the 3 had a carbon fork though! Expect upgrade fever to hit after a few months and good luck with the commuting.

craigleese

Hi Guys

thanks for the replies.. having a second opinion does really help.

I'm pretty set on the Trek 1.2 from my local bike store @ £700. It's slightly more expensive than the other bikes but does seem to have more quality with the Carbon Legs & Simano Tiagra!

Thanks
Craig

sandyballs

Craig,

Link below to Defy 2 2011, They also have Defy 3 for even less. This would also give change for the all important pedals, shoes and lycra.

http://www.ashcycles.com/site/giant-defy-2-2011

Crankbrother

Have a look at some of deals on Cannondale CAAD8 Tiagra's on tne net ... A few at less then £700 in a few sizes ... The frame alone is near enough worth the prices they are asking so if you need to sell it on it'll hold value better tnen the others mentioned ... A first road bike either gets sold or upgraded pretty quickly so it is always worth thinking of something worth upgrading or of value selling ...

craigleese

Too many choices! Thanks for the suggestions.. Both the Defy & Cannondale's look good specs for the price however i'm still not sure they are enough of a pull factor from the Trek 1.2.

My Reasoning -
Local Shop along with 0% finance which i need.. can only afford around 40% of the bike upfront (credit card - no thank you). Also would not be able to set the bike up when it's delivered if i ordered online. Plus there are the advantages that i can take the bike back for a repair when purchase from instore.

If you think my reasoning is rubbish, please speak out

Thanks again for the comments.
Craig

sandyballs

I do like the reasoning LBS are hard to find and should be supported.

I live in germany though so they are not getting a penny (or cent) off me.